10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana

In this post, I am excited to share 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana. Cortana is Microsoft’s voice command equivalent to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. Unfortunately, there are limitations to all of these voice command services, and doubtless many users of each service has their individual complaints of where they fall short. Regardless, we are literally arguing semantics with having personal voice assistants.

Cortana has some tricks up her sleeve that many people aren’t even aware of.

The Cortana voice assistant has come a long way over the past few years and Microsoft has done a tremendous job extending the functionality to the Windows 10 environment. Furthermore, Cortana has some tricks up her sleeve that many people aren’t even aware of. This post aims to enlighten users to some of the great Cortana features they might not be aware of. This post covers 9 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana, so let’s begin.

Before You Begin 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana

If you’re missing the Cortana search bar on your Windows 10 start menu make sure you swing by my post showing How To Enable Or Disable The Taskbar Cortana Search Bar. That post will cover how to enable the easy to use Cortana bar on your Windows 10 environment. This is great because it will give you access to Cortana commands with a single click.

Trick 1 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Definitions

So we are all illiterate in some areas, right? Sure, we are. Naturally we come across many strange words and ideas as we pass through our day. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply ask someone to elaborate on something without horrifically embarrassing ourselves? Well thankfully we can do that with Cortana. She won’t judge us (at least, as far as we know).

Trick 1 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana is asking her definitions of words or phrases you might not be familiar with.

Simply ask “What is the definition of [word or phrase]?

For example:

Simply ask “What is the definition of [word or phrase]?

“Hey Cortana, what is the definition of asbestos?”

Or “Hey Cortana, what is the definition of egregious”

How about “Hey Cortana, what is the definition of tacos?”

Trick 2 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Holidays

So it’s that time of year… wait, is it actually that time of year? If you’re like me, you do a poor job keeping track of all the holidays and events that occur throughout the year. Perhaps you wake up one morning and realize it’s snowing outside. Naturally, your first response is, “Crap, I hate the cold”. However, there’s also the possibility that certain holidays occur at snowy times of the year. This is where Cortana can help!

Let’s say, for some odd reason, you forget when Christmas is. This is a simple task for your personal Cortana assistant. Trick 2 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana covers holidays and events.

Simply ask “What day of the year is [holiday]?”

For example:

Simply ask “What day of the year is [holiday]?”

“Hey Cortana, what day of the year is Christmas?”

Or “Hey Cortana, what day of the year is Easter?”

How about “Hey Cortana, what day of the year is Leif Erikson day?”

Trick 3 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Famous People

We all know famous people. Wait, you don’t? Ha ha. Just kidding. I don’t know any famous people, but fortunately Cortana knows all of them. This nifty little trick will let you do a quick voice search for information on your favorite famous people. Or perhaps infamous people, if that is your preference.

Let’s say, for some odd reason, you don’t know how Leonardo DiCaprio is because you don’t watch movies. With trick 3 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana, we can quickly find out what he is all about. Let’s check it out.

Simply ask “Who is [person’s name]?”

For example:

Simply ask “Who is [person’s name]?”

“Hey Cortana, Who is Leonardo DiCaprio?”

Or “Hey Cortana, What movies is Leonardo DiCaprio in?”

How about “Hey Cortana, how old is Leonardo DiCaprio?”

Trick 4 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Time Zone

So whether you are going Back to the Future or staying right where you are, time zones are essential. This might, at first, appear to be an extremely boring advantage of using Cortana. However, if you are like me and communicate as well as coordinate with multiple people from around the world, time zones are important. Sometimes trying to figure out what time it is in another time zone can be tedious, but no with this nifty Cortana trick.

Essentially Cortana always knows what time it is in the world. So the nice thing about trick 4 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana is you can ask her literally any time you need to know.

Simply ask “What time is it in [location]?

For example:

Simply ask “What time is it in [location]?

“Hey Cortana, what time is it in California?”

Or “Hey Cortana, what time is it in New Zealand?”

How about “Hey Cortana, what time is it in France?”

Trick 5 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Currency Conversion

So if you’re like me, you’re sitting on loads of cash. No, honestly, I’m broke. But that’s ok, I can always fantasize about being rich somewhere else in the world. That’s where this nifty trick comes into play. Cortana, as a fantastic personal assistant, knows the currency value of every currency on the planet. This means you can find out just how much money you have anywhere else in the world! How fantastic is that!

Anyway, tapping into this super-exclusive information is easy to do. In trick 5 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana you will find out how to convert currency like a boss.

Simply ask, “How much is [currency A] in [currency B]?

For example

Simply ask, “How much is [currency A] in [currency B]?

“Hey Cortana, how much is one hundred and fifty dollars in Canadian Dollars?”

Or “Hey Cortana, how much is two hundred and seventy three dollars in rupees?”

How about “Hey Cortana, how much is seven dollars in Euros?”

Trick 6 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Movie Information

So movies are awesome, everyone loves them. However, there’s just so much media out there that there is no way to keep track of what’s going on. So once again it is Cortana to the rescue! You can act like a veteran movie enthusiast simply by asking Cortana some basic information on any movie release. This is one great way of keeping in the loop of your favorite entertainment choices.

Now, we know movies are hit or miss these days (mostly because people are too scared to write good characters). However, that doesn’t prevent us from gathering basic information about a film, such as it’s length, release date or overview. So let’s work some Cortana magic.

Simply ask, “How long is [movie title]?”

For example:

Simply ask, “How long is [movie title]?”

“Hey Cortana, How long is the movie The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring?”

Or “Hey Cortana, When did the movie The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring Release?”

How about “Hey Cortana, how many awards did the movie The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring win?”

Trick 7 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Geography

We all get lost, it’s horribly true. Some of us get lost more than others. Me, personally, I get lost all the time. That’s why it is important for me to have some kind of digital map keeping track of just how lost I am. In come Cortana, with her infinite knowledge of locations and (yes, it’s true) my location. So let’s say I’m trying to figure out where to go, or even worse, what the capital of a specific state is. This is where Cortana can definitely shine.

Figuring out my geography is one thing, figuring out geography as a whole, that’s another. This is where it is fun to put voice services such as Cortana to the test. In trick 7 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana we cover geography.

Simply ask, “What is the capital of [state]?”

For example:

Simply ask, “What is the capital of [state]?”

“Hey Cortana, what is the capital of Indiana?”

Or “Hey Cortana, what is my current location?”

How about “Hey Cortana, how far is it to the nearest Taco Bell?”

Trick 8 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Reminders

At this point in my life I could not live without Reminders. One of the major features of voice control system such as Cortana is that they give you the ability to set reminders at any point. Reminders could be something small, such as reminding you to pick up some coffee on the way home. It could also be something more important, such as daily reminders to take your medications.

No matter what reminder style you might need, Cortana has you covered. With a simple voice command you can set daily reminders, weekly reminders or a simple one time reminder. In trick 8 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana we cover Reminders.

Simply state, “Remind me to [task] at [date and time].

For example:

Simply state, “Remind me to [task] at [date and time].

“Hey Cortana, remind me to take my medicine every morning at 8 AM.”

Or “Hey Cortana, remind me to pick up coffee at 5 PM today.”

How about “Hey Cortana, remind me tomorrow morning at 9 AM that I have an appointment at 10 AM.”

Trick 9 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Appointments

This one is my personal favorite. Reminders are great for small tasks that are repeatable or tasks that don’t require an official meeting time or place. If you have a doctor appointment, then you’ll want to utilize Cortana to schedule appointments rather than set reminders. Or perhaps you will use both the Reminders and Appointments aspect of Cortana to make absolutely sure your covered.

Appointments covers actual date and time scheduled appointments you might have. This could be a meeting with a customer, a doctor appointment or perhaps just a coffee with an old friend. No matter the event, scheduling is covered in trick 9 of 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana

Simply state, “Schedule an appointment with [person or place] on [date and time].”

For example:

Simply state, “Schedule an appointment with [person or place] on [date and time].”

“Hey Cortana, schedule a Doctor’s Appointment on August 15th at 9 AM.”

Or “Hey Cortana, schedule a meeting at Precision Electric on November 16th at 12 PM”

How about “Hey Cortana, schedule a meeting with my wife tomorrow at 10 AM.”

Trick 10 Of 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana – Timers

So we can set reminders or even schedule appointments but there is still one more extremely useful tool that we can use. Cortana also gives you the ability to set timers. At first, timers seem like a boring trick, but there are many useful reasons to utilize timers in your everyday life.

As a parent, timers are an invaluable resource. I regularly use timers to keep the kids in the loop on upcoming bed times, how much tablet time they have left or even to give them something to wait for when they are impatient.

If you haven’t attempted to utilize timers in your daily life then you will thank me after starting to use them. Timers can be extremely addictive and they wrap up Trick 10 in our 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana.

Simply state, “Set a timer for [time]”

For example:

Simply state, “Set a timer for [time]”

“Hey Cortana, set a laundry timer for 60 minutes.”

Or “Hey Cortana, set a bedtime timer for 15 minutes.

How about, “Hey Cortana, set a grill timer for 3 minutes.”

Concluding 10 Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Cortana

Cortana is a powerful tool that very few people take full advantage of. If you haven’t spent the time to get to know her then you will miss out on some major benefits to your daily routing.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list so make sure you test and experiment with other phrases and leave them in the comments below! I’m always excited to learn what else these voice command utilities can do, especially if they are goofy and interesting.

Thank you for stopping by my site, if you have any questions do no hesitate to contact me, I hope you enjoyed learning 10 awesome tricks you can do with Cortana.

Author:Craig Chamberlin

Craig Chamberlin is an active professional IT Administrator, E-Commerce Web Developer and SEO Expert at Precision Electric, Inc. The basic motto of "Always improving towards the ever elusive ideal" guides his approach to teaching, life as well as business.